Wednesday, June 25, 2008

An Optimistic Attempt Validated

Let me preface this with a few facts so you can make sense of it.
1. Ricki finishes seventh grade in a week.
2. After the regular school year there is an added two-week day camp for a nominal fee.
3. Ricki can only attend the camp with an aide.
4. I want the city to pay for the aide, since the government gives them 11, not 10 months of “aide” fund.

My efforts to get Ricki to day camp were a bit harried. First, I had to get the aide to agree to continue another two weeks. Simultaneously, I had to get an explicit OK from city hall that they would pay the aide. They are VERY hard to reach by phone, and they kept saying “We will check and call you tomorrow. They didn’t, and I called every two days for a week. Finally yesterday they agreed. And the aide agreed as well. (She also asked me to let her “think about it and let you know tonight or tomorrow” ---for about a week…. ). So I immediately called the school to register her, and they said, “No, the registration is finished.” “Try in city hall.”
Immediately the pessimistic side of me (the side that went through two court cases for Ricki’s right to an inclusive education) kicked in:
“They delayed in city hall on purpose, to make it past the deadline for registration, so the city can pocket the money.”
Then my good inclination piped up:
“Who says? Check it out? Give the benefit of the doubt.” So I did. Today I traveled over to city hall, explained things, and had Ricki registered for day camp within five minutes. No fuss, no arguments, no problem. Gee, its NICE when people are accommodating!

1 comment:

FAB said...

I'm glad it worked out after so much hassle! I'm also glad that while your life experience tells you otherwise you remained optimistic!